Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style, was born on this day in 1841. Today we decided to present one of his best and most popular works! :)
In this painting, hailed as one of the most famous French paintings of modern times when it was first exhibited, Renoir has immortalized his friends to such a degree that the image is “not anecdotal but monumental.”
Most of the models, all friends of the artist, have been identified. In the right foreground, Angèle, one of Renoir’s frequent models, turns her head toward the standing Maggiolo, a journalist. The painter Gustave Caillebotte sits backward in his chair and stares across the table at Aline Charigot, Renoir’s future wife, who coos at her terrier. The burly Alphonse Fournaise Jr., son of the restaurant’s owner, leans against the balcony’s railing surveying the scene. In the center, Baron Raoul Barbier, a former cavalry officer, is seated with his back to the viewer speaking to the woman resting on her elbows on the railing, who is thought to be Alphonsine Fournaise, the daughter of the proprietor. Across the table from Barbier is the actress Ellen Andrée, drinking from a glass. Behind her, the top-hatted Charles Ephrussi, a banker and editor of Gazette des beaux-arts, chats with Jules Laforgue, poet, critic, and Ephrussi’s personal secretary. In the upper right, Eugène Pierre Lestringuez, an official in the Ministry of the Interior, laughs with Jeanne Samary, a famous actress with the Comédie Française, while the artist Paul Lhote, a close friend of Renoir’s, cocks his head.
A typical summer party! Have a great Sunday! :)
Check out also our today's article about the artist on DailyArt Magazine: "When Art Hurts: The Story Of The French Painter Auguste Renoir".